1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical power control systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatus embodiments for actively managing power supply from any electric power generation source or storage device for introduction to an electric power grid, microgrid interconnected or disconnected, and for creating operating reserves for utilities and market participants of the electric power grid.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, electric power management systems for supply of electricity to an electric power grid are known. However, most prior art systems and methods apply to load curtailment where the supply is used to remove the service points from the grid, but not particularly operable to supply or introduce a new source of supply to the grid. Supplying energy to the grid requires detailed attachment modeling, and due to the requirements that any amount of supply, even micro-scale supply, must comply with standards applicable to full scale utilities or macro-generation supply; this compliance is difficult and expensive. However, there are relevant prior art documents relating to supply of power to electric power grids in the field of the present invention. By way of example, consider the following US patent and US Patent Application Publication documents:
US Patent Application Publication No. 20080040479 filed Aug. 9, 2007 by inventors Bridge, et al. and assigned on the face of the publication to V2Green, Inc. for Connection locator in a power aggregation system for distributed electric resources, discloses a method to obtain the physical location of an electric device, such as an electric vehicle, and transforming the physical location into an electric network location, and further including receiving a unique identifier associated with a device in a physical location. See also related publications WO2008073477, US Pat. Application No.'s 20110025556, 20090043519, 20090200988, 20090063680, 20080040296, 20080040223, 20080039979, 20080040295, and 20080052145.
International Patent Application No. WO2011079235 filed Dec. 22, 2010 and published Jun. 30, 2011 by inventor Williams and assigned on the face of the document to Interactive Grid Solutions, LLC for Distributed energy sources system, describes an energy management system that includes distributed energy sources (for example a wind turbine) that communicate with consumer devices and electric utilities, wherein a CPU is in communication with the distributed energy source and is operable to control the flow of energy produced by the distributed energy source.
International Patent Application No. WO2012015508 filed May 2, 2011 and published Feb. 2, 2012 by inventor Cherian, et al. and assigned on the face of the document to Spriae, Inc. for Dynamic distributed power grid control system, describes a control system for a distributed power grid that includes a simulation module operative to directly interface with the operational control of the distributed energy resources (DER) to develop and dynamically modify the control inputs of the distributed power grid, and wherein the distributed control module can simulate control response characteristics of the DER to determine control methodology by conducting decentralized and distributed simulation. See also WO201200879, WO2012015507, US Pat. Application No.'s 20110106321, 20120029720, and 20120029897.
International Patent Application No. WO2012058114 filed Oct. 21, 2011 and published May 3, 2012 by inventor Alatrash, et al. and assigned on the face of the document to Petra Solar, Inc. for Method and system facilitating control strategy for power electronics interface of distributed generations resources, discloses a method and system for implementing a control strategy for distributed generation (DG) units, wherein the DG unit behaves similarly to a synchronous generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,435 filed Aug. 9, 2007 and issued May 24, 2011 to inventors Pollack, et al. and assigned to V2Green, Inc. on the face of the document entitled User interface and user control in a power aggregation system for distributed electric resources, describes a method and operator interface for users or owners of a distributed power resource, such as an electric vehicle, which connects to a power grid, wherein the user or owner controls a degree of participation of the electric resource power aggregation via the user interface, and further including an energy pricing preference, a vehicle state-of-charge, and a predicted amount of time until the electric resource disconnects from a power grid. See also US Patent Application Pub. Nos. 20090043520 and 20080039989.
US Patent Application Pub. No. 20110282511 filed Mar. 26, 2011 and published Nov. 17, 2011 to inventor Unetich and assigned on the face of the document to Smart Power Devices Ltd for Prediction, communication and control system for distributed power generation and usage, describes an apparatus for obtaining, interpreting and communicating a user reliable and predictive information relevant to the price of electricity service at a prospective time.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,844,370 filed Aug. 9, 2007 and issued Nov. 30, 2010 by inventors Pollack et al. and assigned on the face of the document to GridPoint, Inc. for Scheduling and control in a power aggregation system for distributed electric resources, describes systems and methods for a power aggregation system in which a server establishes individual Internet connections to numerous electric resources intermittently connect to the power grid, such as electric vehicles, wherein the service optimizes power flows to suit the needs of each resource and each resource owner, while aggregating flows across numerous resources to suit the needs of the power grid, and further including inputting constraints of individual electric resources into the system, which signals them to provide power to take power from a grid.
US Patent Application Pub. No. 20090187284 filed Jan. 7, 2009 and published Jul. 23, 2009 by inventors Kreiss et al. for System and method for providing power distribution system information, describes a computer program product for processing utility data of a power grid, including a datamart comprised of physical databases storing utility data applications comprising an automated meter application configured to process power usage data from a plurality of automated meters, a power outage application configured to identify a location of a power outage, and a power restoration application configured to identify a location of a power restoration. See also US Pat. Application No.'s 20110270550, 20110270457, and 20110270454.
The increased awareness of the impact of carbon emissions from the use of fossil fueled electric generation combined with the increased cost of producing base load, intermediate, and peak power during high load conditions has increased the need for alternative solutions utilizing new power technologies as a mechanism to defer, or in some cases eliminate, the need for the deployment of additional generation capacity by electric utilities, generating utilities, or distributing utilities or any grid operator or market participant whose primary function is to facilitate the production, distribution, operation and sale of electricity to individual consumers. Existing electric utilities are pressed for methods to defer or eliminate the need for construction of fossil-based or macro large scale electricity generation while dealing with the need to integrate new sources of generation such as renewable energy sources or distributed energy resources whose production and integration into the electric grid is problematic.
Today, a patchwork of systems exist to implement demand response load management programs, dispatch of macro-generation, and energy management and control for both supplying “negawatts”, supply and grid stability to the electric utility grid whereby various radio subsystems in various frequency bands utilize “one-way” transmit only methods of communication or most recently deployed a plurality of proprietary two-way methods of communications with electric customers or their load consuming device and measurement instruments including, by way of example, “smart meters.” In addition, macro generation is controlled and dispatched from centralized control centers either from utilities, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) or other Market Participants that utilize point to point primarily “Plain old telephone service” POTS dedicated low bit rate modems or nailed time division multiplex (TDM) circuits such as T-1s that supply analog telemetry to Energy Management Systems or in some cases physical dispatch to a human operator to “turn on” generation assets in response to grid supply needs or grid stress and high load conditions. Under traditional Demand Response technologies used for peak shaving, utilities or other market participants install radio frequency (RF)-controlled relay switches typically attached to a customer's air conditioner, water heater, or pool pumps, or other individual load consuming devices. A blanket command is sent out to a specific geographic area whereby all receiving units within the range of the transmitting station (e.g., typically a paging network) are turned off during peak hours at the election of the power utility. After a period of time when the peak load has passed, a second blanket command is sent to turn on those devices that have been turned off. This “load shifting” has the undesired effect of occasionally causing “secondary peaks” and generally requires consumer incentives for adoption.
Most recent improvements that follow the same concepts are RF networks that utilize a plurality of mesh based, non-standard communications protocols that utilize IEEE 802.15.4 or its derivatives, or “ZigBee” protocol end devices to include load control switches, programmable thermostats that have pre-determined set points for accomplishing the “off” or “cut” or reduce command simultaneously or pre-loaded in the resident memory of the end device. These networks are sometimes referred to in the industry as “Home Area Networks” or (HANs). In these elementary and mostly proprietary solutions, a programmable thermostat(s) or building control systems (PCTs) move the set point of the HVAC (or affect another inductive or resistive device) or remove a resistive device from the electric grid thus accomplishing the same “load shifting” effect previously described. All of these methods require and rely on statistical estimations and modeling for measuring their effectiveness and use historical information that are transmitted via these same “smart meters” to provide after-the-fact evidence that an individual device or consumer complied with the demand response event. Protocols that are employed for these methods include “Smart Energy Profiles Versions 1 & 2” and its derivatives to provide utilities and their consumers an attempt at standardization amongst various OEMs of PCTs, switching, and control systems through a plurality of protocols and interfaces. These methods remain crude and do not include real time, measurement, verification, settlement and other attributes necessary to have their Demand Response effects utilized for effective Operating Reserves with the exception of limited programs for “Emergency” Capacity Programs as evidenced by programs such as the Energy Reliability Council of Texas' (ERCOT's) Emergency Interruptible Load Service (EILS). Furthermore, for effective settlement and control of mobile storage devices such as Electric Vehicles, these early “Smart Grid” devices are not capable of meeting the requirements of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) or other standards setting bodies such as the National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Roadmap.
While telemetering has been used for the express purpose of reporting energy usage, no cost effective techniques exist for calculating power consumption, carbon gas emissions, sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emissions, and/or nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions, and reporting the state of a particular device under the control of a two-way positive control load management device or other combinations of load control previously described. In particular, one way wireless communications devices have been utilized to de-activate electrical appliances, such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) units, water heaters, pool pumps, and lighting or any inductive or resistive device that is eligible as determined by a utility or market participant for deactivation, from an existing electrical supplier or distribution partner's network. These devices have typically been used in combination with wireless paging receivers or FM radio carrier data modulation, or a plurality of 2-way proprietary radio frequency (RF) technologies that receive “on” or “off” commands from a paging transmitter or transmitter device. Additionally, the one-way devices are typically connected to a serving electrical supplier's control center via landline trunks, or in some cases, microwave transmission to the paging transmitter. The customer subscribing to the load management program receives a discount or some other form of economic incentive, including direct payments for allowing the serving electrical supplier (utility), retail electric provider or any other market participant to connect to their electrical appliances with a one-way load control switch and deactivate those appliances during high energy usage periods. This technique of demand response is used mostly by utilities or any market participant for “peak shifting” where the electric load demand curve is moved from a peak period to a less generation intensive time interval and are favored by rate-based utilities who earn capital returns of new power plants or any capital deployed to operate their electric grids that are approved by corresponding Public Utility Commissions. These methods are previous art and generally no conservation of energy is measured. In many instances, secondary peak periods occur when the cumulative effect of all the resistive and inductive devices are released from the “off” state simultaneously causing an unintended secondary peak event.
While one-way devices are generally industry standard and relatively inexpensive to implement, the lack of a return path from the receiver, combined with the lack of information on the actual devices connected to the receiver, make the system highly inefficient and largely inaccurate for measuring the actual load shed to the serving utility or compliant with measurement and verification for presenting a balancing authority or independent system operator for operating reserves. While the differential current draw is measurable on the serving electric utility's transmission lines and at electrical bus or substations, the actual load shed is approximate and the location of the load deferral is approximated at the control center of the serving utility or other statistical methods are considered to approximate the individual or cumulative effect on an electric utility grid. The aforementioned “two-way” systems are simultaneously defective in addressing real time and near real time telemetry needs that produce generation equivalencies that are now recognized by FERC Orders such as FERC 745 where measurable, verifiable Demand Response “negawatts”, defined as real time or near real time load curtailment where measurement and verification can be provided within the tolerances required under such programs presented by FERC, NERC, or the governing body that regulate grid operations. The aforementioned “smart meters” in combination with their data collection systems commonly referred to as “Advanced Metering Infrastructure” generally collect interval data from meters in HISTORICAL fashion and report this information to the utility, market participant or grid operator AFTER the utility or grid operator has sent notice for curtailment events or “control events” to initiate due to high grid stress that includes lack of adequate operating reserves to meet demand, frequency variations, voltage support and any other grid stabilizing needs as identified by the utility or grid operator and published and governed by FERC, NERC, or other applicable regulations.
One exemplary telemetering system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,891,838 B1. This patent describes details surrounding a mesh communication of residential devices and the reporting and control of those devices, via WANs, to a computer. The stated design goal in this patent is to facilitate the “monitoring and control of residential automation systems.” This patent does not explain how a serving utility or customer could actively control the devices to facilitate the reduction of electricity. In contrast, this patent discloses techniques that could be utilized for reporting information that is being displayed by the serving utility's power meter (as do many other prior applications in the field of telemetering).
An additional exemplary telemetering system is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0240315 A1. The primary purpose of this published application is not to control utility loads, but rather “to provide an improved interactive system for remotely monitoring and establishing the status of a customer utility load.” A stated goal of this publication is to reduce the amount of time utility field personnel have to spend in the field servicing meters by utilizing wireless technology.
Another prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,823, which describes, in detail, the use of proprietary hardware to remotely turn off or turn on devices within a building or residence. While initially this prior art generally describes a system that would assist utilities in managing power load control, the prior art does not contain the unique attributes necessary to construct or implement a complete system. In particular, this patent is deficient in the areas of security, load accuracy of a controlled device, and methods disclosing how a customer utilizing applicable hardware might set parameters, such as temperature set points, customer preference information, and customer overrides, within an intelligent algorithm that reduces the probability of customer dissatisfaction and service cancellation or churn.
Attempts have been made to bridge the gap between one-way, un-verified power load control management systems and positive control verified power load control management systems. However, until recently, technologies such as smart breakers and command relay devices were not considered for use in residential and commercial environments primarily due to high cost entry points, lack of customer demand, and the cost of power generation relative to the cost of implementing load control or their ability to meet the measurement, telemetry, verification requirements of the grid operator or ISO. Furthermore, submetering technology within the smart breaker, load control device, command relay devices or building control systems have not existed in the prior art.
One such gap-bridging attempt is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0065742 A1. This publication discloses a system and method for remote power management using IEEE 802 based wireless communication links. The system described in this publication includes an on-premise processor (OPP), a host processor, and an end device. The host processor issues power management commands to the OPP, which in turn relays the commands to the end devices under its management. While the disclosed OPP does provide some intelligence in the power management system, it does not determine which end devices under its control to turn-off during a power reduction event, instead relying on the host device to make such decision. For example, during a power reduction event, the end device must request permission from the OPP to turn on. The request is forwarded to the host device for a decision on the request in view of the parameters of the on-going power reduction event. The system also contemplates periodic reading of utility meters by the OPP and storage of the read data in the OPP for later communication to the host device. The OPP may also include intelligence to indicate to the host processor that the OPP will not be able to comply with a power reduction command due to the inability of a load under the OPP's control to be deactivated. However, neither the host processor nor the OPP determine which loads to remove in order to satisfy a power reduction command from an electric utility, particularly when the command is issued by one of several utilities under the management of a power management system. Further, neither the host processor nor the OPP tracks or accumulates power saved and/or carbon credits earned on a per customer or per utility basis for future use by the utility and/or customer. Still further, the system of this publication lacks a reward incentive program to customers based on their participation in the power management system. Still further, the system described in this publication does not provide for secure communications between the host processor and the OPP, and/or between the OPP and the end device. As a result, the described system lacks many features that may be necessary for a commercially viable implementation.
Customer profiles are often used by systems for a variety of reasons. One reason is to promote customer loyalty. This involves keeping information about not only the customer, but about the customer's actions as well. This may include information about what the customer owns (i.e., which devices), how they are used, when they are used, etc. By mining this data, a company can more effectively select rewards for customers that give those customers an incentive for continuing to do business with the company. This is often described as customer relationship management (CRM).
Customer profile data is also useful for obtaining feedback about how a product is used. In software systems, this is often used to improve the customer/user experience or as an aid to testing. Deployed systems that have customer profiling communicate customer actions and other data back to the development organization. That data is analyzed to understand the customer's experience. Lessons learned from that analysis is used to make modifications to the deployed system, resulting in an improved system.
Customer profile data may also be used in marketing and sales. For instance, a retail business may collect a variety of information about a customer, including what customers look at on-line and inside “brick-and-mortar” stores. This data is mined to try to identify customer product preferences and shopping habits. Such data helps sales and marketing determine how to present products of probable interest to the customer, resulting in greater sales.
However, the collection of customer profile information by power utilities, retail electric providers or any other market participant that sells retail electric commodity to end customers (residential or commercial) has been limited to customer account information of gross electrical consumption and inferential information about how power is being consumed but requires customers to take their own actions. Because power utilities, REPs, market participants typically are unable to collect detailed data about what is happening inside a customer's home or business, including patterns of energy consumption by device, there has been little opportunity to create extensive customer profiles.
Thus, none of the prior art systems, methods, or devices provide complete solutions for actively controlling power load management for customers attached to the electric grid, and for creating operating reserves for utilities and market participants. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for active power load management that is optionally capable of tracking power savings for the individual customer as well as the electric utility and any other market participant to thereby overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.